TENNESSEE LIVING: People and Places

Queen of Diamonds: The Fabled Legacy of Evalyn Walsh McLean

The last and longest private owner of the Hope Diamond, Evalyn Walsh McLean led anything but an ordinary life. Evalyn grew up a poor girl in a rough Colorado mining town where her father discovered one of the largest gold mines in the United States. The newly wealthy family relocated to Washington, D.C., where she met and married Ned McLean, who inherited the renowned Washington Post and the Cincinnati Enquirer. With the combined influence of the Walsh and McLean families, Evalyn developed friendships with the politically prominent in the nation’s capital and became the city’s favorite hostess. Notorious for giving magnificent parties, she counted the Tafts, the Hardings, the Coolidges, Alice Roosevelt, J. Edgar Hoover, and Ethel Barrymore among her many personal friends.

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The Hope Diamond: Evalyn Walsh McLean and the Captivating Mystery of the World's Most Alluring Jewel

Much has been written about this most fascinating blue diamond to which myth, mystery, and intrigue have become inextricably linked the Hope diamond. Nearly four hundred years of remarkable history is encapsulated within it, one of the world s most stunning and storied treasures. This fascinating tale is beautifully presented here in this visually enticing book, Evalyn Walsh McLean and the Captivating Mystery of the World s Most Alluring Jewel. With great focus concentrated on the years the diamond spent under the ownership of Evalyn Walsh McLeanthe Hope's longest owner each part of the Hope s extraordinary journey holds its own story and has been faithfully retold in this new gift book. Some stories never grow old. That is certainly true with the Hope diamond, an exquisite legend that has never lost its sparkle and continues to capture the attention of millions each and every year.

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Meet Joseph McLean Gregory

Joseph McLean Gregory is the great-grandson of Evalyn Walsh McLean. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, he was educated at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and is the president and founder of Hope Diamond Collection. A noted author and historian, Joseph has received rave reviews for his books, Queen of Diamonds and his latest book, The Hope Diamond: Evalyn Walsh McLean and the Captivating Mystery of the World’s Most Alluring Jewel. This book explores the remarkable journey of the enchanting blue diamond and the rich legacy of Gregory’s great-grandmother, Evalyn Walsh McLean, who purchased the gem in 1911. The book sheds new light on the myth, mystery, and magnificence on the McLean legacy. Although much has been written about the storied gem, Gregory offers an in-depth look behind the intrigue, fascination, and misfortune of those who dared to possess it.

"Evalyn wore the Hope Diamond to distribute sandwiches to World War I veterans and to write letters from home for the wounded servicemen in World War Ii," says her great-grandson proudly. "She let her Great Dane, Mike, wear it around the house. There even were a couple of times when she wore the Hope Diamond on the operating table while having surgery." When she died in 1947, the well-known Washingtonian was reputedly wearing her beloved necklace.

Joseph, raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and Palm Beach, Florida, never met his colorful great-grandmother, but says his mother remembers bits. "Mother teethed on the Hope Diamond and played with it in her sandbox," says Joseph with a smile, thumbing through a family scrapbook, one photo featuring Evalyn in a black patent leather dress (with the necklace in full view). "My mother wants us to know our great-grandmother as a caring philanthropist."

It's Joseph's goal to remember her, period. And to fan the flames of the legend through his new fragrance, developed by Quest International, the company responsible for Gucci and Givenchy scents. "I told the chemist to take a note from every country in which the Hope Diamond has been housed, then to add a hint of Evalyn's favorite dessert—crème brûlée."

What resulted was a mixture of ivy from England, plum and pimiento from Spain, real sandalwood from India, and the crème brûlée flavor. Joseph says it took 150 different combinations before he approved the final fragrance.

With high test-marketing results and beveled, frosted French crystal containers, Fable—which comes complete with the story of Evalyn Walsh McLean is now on the market. Prices range from a signed, numbered, and dated collector's edition perfume at $650 to a 1.7-ounce eau de parfum spray for $75, along with many other items to complete the Fable line. Markets include TIBA de Nuhad Khoury in Nashville, some Sephora stores in the Southeast, Bergdorf Goodman in New York City, Jacobson's chains, and Von Maur department stores.

Joesph is currently on a tour to promote an Evalyn book (see THE BOOK), toting her bejeweled dresses and some pieces of jewelry to signings. And he hopes someday for a made-for-TV film ofhis great-grandmother's life story.

"Evalyn would've loved all this," he remarks of the flurry of attention and the steadily selling fragrance. "People ask me if I believe in the Hope Diamond's curse; I don't. I can't believe in it. I'm putting positive thoughts out there."

-Carolanne Griffith Roberts